Which Gift Cards to Use?

All real-money US poker sites accept VISA gift cards. In case your credit card fails to work - or you have no credit card - one of the best ways to deposit money to US poker sites is to use a pre-paid gift card. Why?

You can buy them everywhere - supermarkets, retail stores, gas stations, banks... and even online.

You'll have the money on your player account instantly after making the deposit.

When you choose the right kind of a VISA gift card, you'll have a high success rate with your deposits (which is not self-evident in today's US online poker world).

Do VISA Gift Cards Work for Online Poker?

An easy way for US poker players to deposit money into a poker site is to use a gift card or a pre-paid debit card. If you've had problems with depositing money before, these cards may be your solution. All US poker sites may not accept the same types of cards, but in general, if a card is accepted at one US poker site, it's likely to be accepted at other sites too. Once you find a working gift card type, you'll likely be able to use it on all of the sites.

Do Gift Cards Work?

Yes, they're likely to work, but under following conditions:

The card needs to be eligible for international purchases.

It also needs to be eligible for online purchases.

Which Gift Card Works the Best?

We have such a variety of gift cards available that listing them here would be tedious. However, I've listed VISA gift cards that have recently worked well for US poker players in early 2014. (Note: there's only one card left since the majority of VISA gift cards have stopped working):

NetSpend Card:
To use Netspend for online poker, go to Netspend.com to see their locations (they're easy to find - most gas stations have them), then visit your local retailer to deposit money to the card. They will instruct you further. (Usually you're required to take a picture of your ID to confirm the account.)

Note: In late 2013, I received an e-mail from Carbon Poker's customer support that said: "If you are getting a visa gift card please bear in mind we do not accept Wal-Mart gift-card, TARGET gift cards, Vanilla Visa, Visa 2GO and Green Dot because those cards do not allow purchases to merchants outside of the U.S. anymore."

So that's my list of the best US online poker gift cards, pre-paid debit cards and alike, although tens of other cards are just as likely to work. Stick to the one that works at your site.

Additionally, once you've decided which online poker site to play at, you could e-mail the support and ask which types of online poker gift cards they recommend - not all of them name any cards specifically, but some of them do.

Deposit Fees

Remember to take possible credit card deposit fees into account. For example, the minimum deposit to BetOnline Poker is $20 and they take a 6% fee out of each credit card deposit. Therefore you need to deposit at least $20 + 6% to your credit, gift card or debit card in order to transfer money to your online poker account.